Agenda: museums and exhibitions, nightlife, culture and walking and cycling in Ostend

Ostend has more to offer than just the sea. Did you know that Ostend has a surprisingly green city edge? To strengthen that green city edge, the City had a master plan developed to connect all green zones and landscapes: The Green Ribbon. This green ribbon forms an attractive 35 km loop for cyclists and walkers, connecting 15 existing and new green areas in the city outskirts, exactly like a necklace with 15 beads.

14 February 1981. Marvin Gaye arrives by ferry in Ostend, together with his little boy, Bubby. It marks the start of a fascinating story about Ostend, Marvin Gaye and the relationship between the two.
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A bracing tour through the countryside around Ostend. Not everybody is familiar with Ostend's agricultural history. During this tour you can explore what's left of the farmland around Ostend in a recreational manner.
You can go get you free walking map at the Ostend Tourist Office (Monacoplein 2). Enjoy your walk!

The building dominates the view at the Albert I promenade. The Casino, a design by Leon Stynen (1953) stands on the spot where in 1875 the first casino already stood. The latter was destroyed during WWII. After the war it would still be eight years before the current building was erected. This strikingly large building can boast being the largest in Belgium and is a typical example of modernism. The eye-catchers are of course the murals by Paul Delvaux. On 17th December 2004, the renovated...

In 1900, Belgian King Leopold II commissioned architect Henri Maquet to design the first royal gallery: an L-shaped, closed and covered walkway between the royal villa and a large octagonal salon. Nowadays it is known by the name ‘Venetian Galleries’, referring to Venice’s classicist architecture. When the Belgian royal family decided they would no longer use their coastal residence, Ostend was given the concession of the entire complex and resolved that the building be used for cultural...

If you like to put your fate in the hands of Lady Luck, then Casino Kursaal Oostende is the place to be. Try a classic table game of roulette, blackjack, stud poker or play the electronic slot machines. And if you thought that casinos only belong in James Bond films or American TV series, then you’re wrong. Because Ostend’s casino is always busy!

Ostend has all the advantages of a city, without the disadvantages. It is a pocket-sized city, everything is easy to reach. All you need is a pair of comfortable walking shoes and this walking map to see all the sights of Ostend. And with these two detailed walks you are already halfway there. You can go get you free walking map at the Ostend Tourist Office (Monacoplein 2). Enjoy your walk!

If we didn’t serve our guide the odd portion of ‘gernoazen’ now and then, he would just keep on talking, sharing stories about Ostend. So that is exactly what we’ll be doing on this tasty tour. We will stop now and then to sample some shrimp - and you get to taste them too: shrimp fresh from the sea, as is, or in chocolate...

Participants can learn more about some fascinating aspects of current and historic port and fishing activities during this salty walk, which includes a visit to the former training ship ‘Mercator’, the last Iceland trawler O.129 ‘Amandine', the DAB Vloot office building, the North Sea Aquarium, the ‘vistrap’ fish market and coastal fishing, the Westerstaketsel and the new port dams.